The Kingdom of Denmark

Denmark might be located north, but actually two other parts of "The Kingdom of Denmark" are located even further north. Get to know Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Greenland

Greenland is part of the North American continent. It is the world’s largest island with a total area of around 2.2 million km2. However, only 410,000 of them are not covered by ice. Approximately 56,000 people live in Greenland.

Greenland became a Danish colony in 1721 when the priest Hans Egede founded Godthåb (Nuuk) and initiated both mission and trade on behalf of the Danish King. With the revised Constitution of Denmark of 1953, Greenland became a part of the Kingdom of Denmark. In 1979 Denmark granted home rule to Greenland, and in 2008 Greenland voted to transfer more power from the Danish government to the local Greenlandic government. Today, Greenland has a large degree of self rule and sovereignty and administration over the various areas mentioned in the Act of Greenland Self-Government.

Under the new structure, in effect since 21 June 2009, Greenland can gradually assume responsibility for amongst others, policing, judicial system, mineral resource activities, the working environment, and financial regulation and supervision, while the Danish government retains control of foreign affairs and defence.

The relationship and cooperation between Greenland and Korea has intensified on a variety of areas over the past years, and this has led to establishment of partnerships in different areas. This includes a bilateral agreement on the establishment of the Joint Committee to Improve Cooperation between Greenland and the Republic of Korea in areas of mutual interest from 2012. The Greenlandic Ministry of Education, Research and Nordic Cooperation have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Academic and Intellectual Cooperation with the Korea Foundation. This agreement seeks to strengthen interaction between the two countries and widen collaboration within research fields of mutual benefit.

The Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands are located in the Northern Atlantic, almost midway between Norway, Iceland and Scotland and consist of 18 islands with a total area of 1,399 km2. Almost 50,000 people live on the islands.

In 1948 the Faroe Islands entered into a “Home Rule Act” agreement with the Danish government, which gave the islands a high degree of self-governance supported by a substantial financial subsidy from Denmark. Over the years, the Faroese have gradually taken over more and more responsibility.